Audio quality in headphones vs IEM?
- Thread starter Benjamin
- Start date
Biggest difference would probably be sound isolation and bass.
I dont hear a big difference between good quality earbuds and good quality headphones outside of that.
I dont hear a big difference between good quality earbuds and good quality headphones outside of that.
- Dec 2, 2007
- 17,274
- 2,226
There's no easy way to answer this. There's a ton of variances... let's just use a few examples.
Earbuds versus IEMs, earbuds could sound better to someone depending on the sound isolation due to their ear shape. However, typically IEMs will sound better than earbuds in general if they're of reputable vendors due to shape (better drives are used).
Open headphones versus closed headphones, this is going to be a huge difference and really needs to be driven by personal use. Open headphones sound warm and airy, they're great (imo) but you can't use them in public as sound leaks. Closed are your typical ones and their success will vary based on how well they fit or clamp to your head and isolate sound.
I'm not a big IEM person, but if you want a really good $120 closed set of cans, the AKG 553s are a great pair and high quality. You probably won't noticed a huge difference between your current Senns and any other IEMs until you step up higher or find a good sale.
I like watching Massdrop for their sales, since they do bulk buys and have a lot of high quality audio gear often. Check head-fi for their reviews before buying. An example is the Mee Audio x7 IEM on sale for $75 right now and it has glowing audiophile reviews.
Keep in mind all headphones have different sound signatures depending on the lows, mids, highs and other things such as sound dampening materials, fit, etc. This means some headphones are great for different types of music, I have the HD650's (open headphones) they're wonderfully warm and airy, great for working at home. I also have the AKG 553 that are good closed ones for travel. And despite popular opinion, I have the Bose QC20's for noise cancelling on planes, the sound quality is worse than other $300 IEMs but the noise cancelling makes them incomparable due to outside noise interference when traveling (or say, at the gym).
Earbuds versus IEMs, earbuds could sound better to someone depending on the sound isolation due to their ear shape. However, typically IEMs will sound better than earbuds in general if they're of reputable vendors due to shape (better drives are used).
Open headphones versus closed headphones, this is going to be a huge difference and really needs to be driven by personal use. Open headphones sound warm and airy, they're great (imo) but you can't use them in public as sound leaks. Closed are your typical ones and their success will vary based on how well they fit or clamp to your head and isolate sound.
I'm not a big IEM person, but if you want a really good $120 closed set of cans, the AKG 553s are a great pair and high quality. You probably won't noticed a huge difference between your current Senns and any other IEMs until you step up higher or find a good sale.
I like watching Massdrop for their sales, since they do bulk buys and have a lot of high quality audio gear often. Check head-fi for their reviews before buying. An example is the Mee Audio x7 IEM on sale for $75 right now and it has glowing audiophile reviews.
Keep in mind all headphones have different sound signatures depending on the lows, mids, highs and other things such as sound dampening materials, fit, etc. This means some headphones are great for different types of music, I have the HD650's (open headphones) they're wonderfully warm and airy, great for working at home. I also have the AKG 553 that are good closed ones for travel. And despite popular opinion, I have the Bose QC20's for noise cancelling on planes, the sound quality is worse than other $300 IEMs but the noise cancelling makes them incomparable due to outside noise interference when traveling (or say, at the gym).
Hivemind
We're Touched
There is no uniform answer between the quality of IEMs and circumaural headphones, other than sound isolation (will always be more isolation with proper fitting IEMs, regardless of any "noise cancelling" features). It depends on the specific brand and model in question.
The difference between MOST $30 and $120 cans will be significant (unless the $120 headphones are from certain brand names that are more about fashion than sound quality), but will also depend on a host of other factors. For instance, in some cases, listeners will better notice poor quality sound files once they've upgraded their headphones. Additionally (while not likely a common issue in the $120 range) external amplifiers may be required to get the proper level of sound quality desired from a high impedance headphones.
The difference between MOST $30 and $120 cans will be significant (unless the $120 headphones are from certain brand names that are more about fashion than sound quality), but will also depend on a host of other factors. For instance, in some cases, listeners will better notice poor quality sound files once they've upgraded their headphones. Additionally (while not likely a common issue in the $120 range) external amplifiers may be required to get the proper level of sound quality desired from a high impedance headphones.
If you also want a health answer, anything that goes within an ear will cause sensorineural hearing loss. Or hearing loss which is not repairable.
In terms of a list in wanting to reduce any type of hearing loss; speakers are the best, then are over the ear headphones, regular headphones, and finally the worst, in-ear buds.
Now if you love music and want the best sound possible, over the ear headphones with a wire or cord is greatest you can get. Almost every headphone company makes a professional brand which can cost around 1,000 to 5k, which is something like Metallica would use.
Then they have drop off models which fit in certain price ranges depending on what you want. For musical quality, bluetooth wireless are the worst and some are overpriced like Beats and Bose, while others face reliability questions like some of the Sony.
Personally speaking I love music and even made some myself with my friends. I wanted not only a headphone which gives off great quality of sound, but something I could watch movies with, play games with, and have some drowning outside sources out ability. I found out the good way, that Audio Technica makes wonderful "all-purpose" headphones. I have one, ATH-910 Pro (wired) model, which I have had a little over thirteen years. And YES it is still working, just lately, about a year or so, the ear bands have been peeling off and the head adjustment is too loose if you want to headbang. But this headphone has been beat up by me a little over a decade. It's just insane the durability of them, including me accidentally kicking out or stepping on cords when they were plugged in all kinds of technology. A good 99 dollars well spent in the year 2003, had a countless amount of memories using them which is priceless.
Recently, though I went the next step and wanting a hybrid type of headphone. I still wanted an "all purpose" functionality, but with a more advanced "all purpose" agenda. This specific agenda is wanting a headphone which could be used as a bluetooth wireless headset and as a wired/cord headphone when the battery runs out of life. I spent some money on Audio-Technica model ATH-S700BT and for the last couple of weeks been testing them out. So far it has been amazing, I get the freedom of not having wires, but a good amount of quality as well. I am quite surprised how good the sound is when using the bluetooth function. This is after buying three other sets of bluetooth headphones and experiencing a such distaste and buzzing sound with them. I am looking at you Sony, Sennheiser, and Philips.
I have been so surprised by the bluetooth quality of the Audio-Technica's, that I have only plugged them into my laptop less than three to four times during these weeks. Yes it's not a perfect headphone and some of the syncing processes are quite ridiculous. And I highly doubt the durability of newer technology regardless of the company is NOT as good as it was in the past, but I am pretty sure that this is going to be another 120 bucks well spent!
In terms of a list in wanting to reduce any type of hearing loss; speakers are the best, then are over the ear headphones, regular headphones, and finally the worst, in-ear buds.
Now if you love music and want the best sound possible, over the ear headphones with a wire or cord is greatest you can get. Almost every headphone company makes a professional brand which can cost around 1,000 to 5k, which is something like Metallica would use.
Then they have drop off models which fit in certain price ranges depending on what you want. For musical quality, bluetooth wireless are the worst and some are overpriced like Beats and Bose, while others face reliability questions like some of the Sony.
Personally speaking I love music and even made some myself with my friends. I wanted not only a headphone which gives off great quality of sound, but something I could watch movies with, play games with, and have some drowning outside sources out ability. I found out the good way, that Audio Technica makes wonderful "all-purpose" headphones. I have one, ATH-910 Pro (wired) model, which I have had a little over thirteen years. And YES it is still working, just lately, about a year or so, the ear bands have been peeling off and the head adjustment is too loose if you want to headbang. But this headphone has been beat up by me a little over a decade. It's just insane the durability of them, including me accidentally kicking out or stepping on cords when they were plugged in all kinds of technology. A good 99 dollars well spent in the year 2003, had a countless amount of memories using them which is priceless.
Recently, though I went the next step and wanting a hybrid type of headphone. I still wanted an "all purpose" functionality, but with a more advanced "all purpose" agenda. This specific agenda is wanting a headphone which could be used as a bluetooth wireless headset and as a wired/cord headphone when the battery runs out of life. I spent some money on Audio-Technica model ATH-S700BT and for the last couple of weeks been testing them out. So far it has been amazing, I get the freedom of not having wires, but a good amount of quality as well. I am quite surprised how good the sound is when using the bluetooth function. This is after buying three other sets of bluetooth headphones and experiencing a such distaste and buzzing sound with them. I am looking at you Sony, Sennheiser, and Philips.
I have been so surprised by the bluetooth quality of the Audio-Technica's, that I have only plugged them into my laptop less than three to four times during these weeks. Yes it's not a perfect headphone and some of the syncing processes are quite ridiculous. And I highly doubt the durability of newer technology regardless of the company is NOT as good as it was in the past, but I am pretty sure that this is going to be another 120 bucks well spent!
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I've always been worried about the damage the IEMs could have. I use headphones for all my music, youtube/netflix/movies and gaming. Its rare for me to use speakers. I have a 3.5mm extender so I can use them from 15 feet away. Main reason I use ear buds is because its so easy to use one ear at a time. That way I can hear whats around me and what im watching. Its a pain to do that with headphones.
